Philadelphia, August 3, 2017 — Cozen O’Connor is pleased to announce the acquisition of Margolis Healy & Associates, LLC, a leading consulting firm specializing in safety and security and regulatory compliance in the United States. This acquisition by a business subsidiary of Cozen O’Connor comes six months after Cozen O’Connor launched the country’s premier Institutional Response Group led by Gina Maisto Smith and Leslie Gomez. The highly accomplished attorneys in the Institutional Response Group provide legal advice and guidance to assist institutions in preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based harassment and violence, child abuse, and other forms of interpersonal violence. The new entity will be known as Margolis Healy and Associates, LLC.
“Over the years we have worked with Gina and Leslie at multiple institutions and been impressed by their holistic approach to navigating complex institutional issues,” said Steven J. Healy, CEO of Margolis Healy and Associates, LLC. “This is a partnership formed by longstanding respect and shared commitment to improving institutional responses. We are excited to officially join their team.”
The Burlington, Vt. based Margolis Healy & Associates, LLC was founded in 2008 by Gary J. Margolis and Steven J. Healy, both of whom are experienced law enforcement officers, serving as police chiefs at the University of Vermont and Princeton University before developing a national consulting firm dedicated to improving campus and institutional safety and security. Margolis Healy & Associates has personally managed or been intimately involved with numerous high profile higher education cases, including at institutions undergoing U.S Department of Education Clery Act and Title IX compliance reviews. A significant amount of their work is with institutions taking proactive steps to enhance compliance and improve campus safety and security.
“I am very excited that Margolis Healy & Associates, LLC will become a part of the Cozen O’Connor family,” said Gary J. Margolis. “Cozen O’Connor’s IRG team shares our approach to this important work, ensuring Margolis Healy and Associates, LLC will continue to serve our clients at the highest possible level.”
Margolis Healy and Associates, LLC provides their clients with a wide range of services, including campus safety and security assessments, including management reviews; Title IX and Clery Act assessments; emergency management risk and hazard assessments; emergency preparedness and crisis response systems and exercises; implementation of lethal and less-than-lethal force options; litigation consultation; and special investigations/independent reviews. Healy will remain as the company’s CEO and continue to provide direct services to clients.
“The services provided by Margolis Healy & Associates, LLC are a natural complement to the legal guidance and advice provided by the Institutional Response Group. We welcome the opportunity to combine the unique skill sets and services offered by Cozen O’Connor with the diverse services available through Margolis Healy and Associates,” said Gina Maisto Smith, chair of the Institutional Response Group at Cozen O’Connor. “The business services that the team at Margolis Healy and Associates provides to educational institutions, government agencies, and private companies dovetails perfectly with the legal work we have been doing at the firm.”
Cozen O’Connor’s Institutional Response Attorneys have decades of experience conducting high-profile sexual violence and child abuse investigations, and assisting institutions in implementing trauma-informed, fair and impartial processes for the prevention and resolution of sexual and gender-based harassment and violence, child abuse, and other forms of misconduct. The IRG has 10 pillars of practice: policy development and audit; design of infrastructure, systems, and protocols; investigations; training and education; Title IX, Clery and other regulatory compliance; coordination with law enforcement and parallel investigations; counseling and advice; institutional governance; community engagement; and public service.
In 2013, with a grant from the U.S. Justice Department, Margolis Healy & Associates, LLC opened the National Center for Campus Public Safety. The new entity will continue the operation of this center.
About Cozen O’Connor
Established in 1970 and ranked among the top 100 law firms in America, Cozen O’Connor has more than 825 attorneys who help clients manage risk and make better business decisions. The firm counsels clients on their most sophisticated legal matters in all areas of the law, including litigation, corporate and regulatory law. Representing a broad array of leading global corporations and middle market companies, Cozen O’Connor services its clients’ needs through 26 offices across two continents.
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